


How the Grinch Stole Poe's Heart

by OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway



Series: Stormpilot Advent Calendar Part II [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Kid BB-8, M/M, Single Dad Poe, librarian Finn, story time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway/pseuds/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway
Summary: Rey's out sick, which means it's up to Finn to do story time





	How the Grinch Stole Poe's Heart

**Author's Note:**

> No one's really a Grinch here, I just like the title

Finn looked around the library again and then stared at his still unread message, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. “Come on, Rey… Where are you…” he groaned, peering out from one of the arm chairs the little reading nook to see all of the little kids with their parents, waiting for story time. He ducked down again to make sure that no one saw him before pulling up Rey’s number, calling her. “Come on… pick up, pick up!” 

Finn held his breath, releasing it with one big  _ whoosh _ when Rey picked up. “Hullo?” Finn’s heart dropped into his stomach. That was a very stuffed up hello. 

“Rey? Where the hell are you?” He whispered, peeking around the chair again and biting his lip when he saw that the line had grown a little longer. “It’s almost one!”

“I’m sorry, Finn, I woke up sick. I thought I texted you?” Rey asked, pulling away briefly, presumably to check her phone. After a few moments she came back. “Dammit, it didn’t send! I’m so sorry, Finn, I can’t do it today.”

Finn sighed heavily, pressing a hand to his face. “Okay… um, that’s alright. I can cover it, no problem. You get better, okay? I’ll stop by after work with some soup.”

“Okay,” she rasped. “Thank you, peanut. You’ll do great.”

“Yeah,” Finn said anxiously, peering out again, sighing at how much the line had grown. “Alright, I have to go, it’s almost time, and the kids are getting antsy.”

“You can do this, good luck!” she said before hanging up, leaving Finn alone with a group of kids. 

It wasn’t like he hated kids, he actually didn’t mind them. Sometimes they could be a little loud, but he’d been complimented on how good he was with kids in the past, but usually when they asked for help finding a book, or when he was reaching for something high up. But this was  _ story time _ . This could make or break a librarian. You couldn’t make a single mistake, they knew these books by heart, and they had no qualms about shouting the correct word all at once. He couldn’t be too boring either, otherwise everyone would fall asleep, so he had to do all the little voices, and keep everyone engaged. But he couldn’t be too intense about it either, otherwise he’d have a bunch of crying toddlers on his hands, and wouldn’t that be a disaster. 

Rey, of course, was perfect at it. She kept the kids engaged, she could do any voice on the face of the earth, it was actually incredibly impressive. All the kids loved her, she was like a little celebrity to them. Every so often, a parent would be dragged in by their excited child, smiling a little and saying something about how “they wanted to see Ms. Rey”. No one ever came in saying that they wanted to see Mr. Finn, which, largely he was fine with, although sometimes he did get a little jealous. 

He took a deep breath and checked his phone clock, grimacing at the time. It was time. Do or die. He could do this. Finn stood from the floor, adjusting his clothes before hurrying over, putting on a smile. “Sorry, I’m sorry for the delay.” he said quickly, moving the partition so that they could all go in and sit on the brightly colored rug.

As he found the book,  _ How the Grinch Stole Christmas _ , someone asked, “Where’s Miss Rey?”

He turned to see a girl with a head full of orange curls looking curiously at him. “Oh, she’s out sick today, so I’m filling in for her.”

“Oh,” The girl said, looking worried now. She wasn’t the only one, it seemed, a few kids seemed concerned. “Is she okay? Does she have a cold?” After a moment she gasped. “Does she have strep?!”

The other kids gasped, looking around with wide eyes. Ah, strep. The bringer of gross medicine and the bane of these little kids. The man who was next to the girl, presumably her father, smiled a little at her. “I’m sure she doesn’t have strep, Bea.” he looked to Finn with a smile. “Right?”

Finn was momentarily struck dumb by the charming smile on his lips and for a moment he didn’t even remember what the question was. He shook himself out of it, though, clearing his throat. “Oh, uh, right, yeah, no, it’s not strep throat, it’s just a cold.”

Bea nodded seriously, brows furrowed. “We should make her a card! Saying we hope she gets better!” Several of the kids nodded, all starting to talk over each other about their ideas for the card and Finn chuckled softly, resolving to tell Rey all about her dedicated fan club tonight, and that she should expect at least a few cards.

After a few moments, Finn knew he needed to get all the kids under control, so he stepped in. “I’ll make sure I pass on all your cards and well wishes onto Rey, I know she’ll love all of them.” The kids seemed thrilled by that, and, after a few moments, seemed inclined to settle down for the story. Finn took a deep breath, feeling a sudden surge of pressure at the eyes of all of the kids on him. He took a deep breath, holding up the book. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss.” He opened it up, and took a deep breath. “Okay, here we go.”

To his credit, Finn seemed to do pretty damn well. He wasn’t sure about the quality of his voice acting, to be frank, and he’d definitely need some practice, but the kids looked like they were having fun, and at the end, he got a rather loud, enthusiastic “thank you” from the group before they all ran off to do crafts or look for books. 

He let out a relieved sigh, flopping back in the armchair to relax, closing his eyes happily. Rey made it look so easy, he didn’t know how she did it. At least he hadn’t crashed and burned, though, because that would have been embarrassing. 

After a little while, he heard the sound of footsteps and he blinked his eyes open, sitting up and smiling when he saw the girl from earlier, Bea. She smiled at him before promptly thrusting a folded up piece of construction paper in his direction. “Here! This is for Miss Rey!” 

He took the paper, grinning at the ‘Get Well Soon Miss Rey’ that had been written carefully in orange marker, with a stick figure drawing of Rey. Rey was going to love this. “Oh, this is so pretty… May I open it?” he added, smiling when she nodded enthusiastically. He unfolded the card, chuckling warmly at the drawing inside of Rey eating a bowl of soup, plus what Finn figured was a rough recipe of the soup.

“That’s my Papa’s recipe,” she said proudly, “he always makes me soup when I’m sick, and it’s the best soup in the world!” 

“Now, I’m not sure it’s the best in the world, but I’ll take the compliment.” Finn looked up to see that Bea’s dad had joined them, and he smiled.

“No, I believe it’s the best. At any rate, it’s better than mine. I just heat up a can of store brand soup and call it good,” he said conspiratorially, smiling when that got a smile out of both of them. 

“Well, then it’s good you have a recipe!” Bea said brightly.

“Yeah, it is,” Finn smiled at her. “I’ll make sure I make it for her.”

Bea seemed thrilled at that, beaming up at her father, who smiled back, ruffling her hair. “Papa, can I go make more drawings?”

He nodded, grinning down at her. “Of course, little bean, go ahead.” she didn’t need anything more, calling out a “Thanks!” before racing off. After that, the man smiled at Finn. “You did pretty good with story time, buddy.”

Finn smiled, getting to his feet. “Oh, thank you. I’m glad I did, I was pretty nervous about it, honestly. Rey’s usually the one who does this, it’s why everyone loves her,” he held up the card for example.

“I dunno, buddy. You killed it. I could see you getting some fan mail in the distant future.” He grinned. “Bea’s a big fan of course, she says she likes your Grinch better than Jim Carrey’s.”

Finn beamed, feeling himself swell with pride. “Yeah?”

The man nodded. “Yeah. I think you were a hit.” He offered his hand. “I’m Poe, by the way, Poe Dameron.”

Finn smiled, shaking his hand. “Finn. I’m Finn.”

“Finn,” Poe repeated, his eyes crinkling with his smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Dameron.” Finn replied.

“Oh, no, you can call me Poe, if you want,” Poe said, shrugging. 

“Poe,” Finn said, smiling a little. “Alright, Poe.”

Poe smiled a little before looking at the card. “You know, uh, the recipe Bea wrote may not be quite right, I mean, as far as measuring goes.”

Finn raised a brow, checking the card. “You sure? I think, “a lot of chicken” sounds just about right.”

Chuckling, Poe shrugged. “I mean, she’s not wrong. If you like, I could text you the actual amounts?” he suggested, looking hopeful.

Finn couldn’t help but smile. “Are you flirting with me?”

Poe looked a little sheepish. “I’m trying. I’m not very good at it.”

“I think you’re doing okay,” Finn assured him, before looking to where Bea was. “I, uh, don’t mean to… well…”

Poe thankfully caught his meaning. “Oh! No, I’m not married, no. Well, not anymore, at any case.” he cleared his throat, uncomfortable. “But, no, I’m single.”

Relieved, Finn smiled, pulling his phone out of his pocket and pulling up his number for Poe to see. “Well, then I’d love the recipe.” he said, his smile growing at the grin Poe gave him. 

The other quickly copied down the number, looking over when his name was called. He offered an apologetic smile. “That’s my batsignal. I’ll see you around, Finn?”

Finn nodded. “I’ll see you around, Poe.”

The other walked off with one last smile, and Finn flopped back into his chair, beaming to himself. Story time had gone over brilliantly, and he had just flirted with a really handsome man. Considering how he had expected to fail on every level, this was a welcome surprise. 

Over the rest of the afternoon, he got a few more cards for Rey, plus a couple of thank you notes for him, complete with drawings of him that he was severely tempted to frame up. When he went home, he gave all the little cards to Rey, who nearly teared up at the sight of them all. 

It wasn’t until later that Finn heard from Poe, and he grinned when he saw the recipe, replying with a “thanks” before grabbing a pot and planning a text to ask Poe to coffee. 


End file.
